Male breast carcinoma

Fifty men with primary breast carcinoma were seen between the years 1938 and 1983 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. In most patients, there was a significant delay between the onset of symptoms and seeking medical advice (mean, 21 months; range, 1-156). The vast majority of patients were treated by simple, modified radical, or radical mastectomy. Ten patients underwent incisional or excisional biopsy with or without radiation because of locally advanced disease or distant metastases. Survival was comparable in the groups of patients treated with simple mastectomy (mean, 70 months), modified radical mastectomy (mean, 61 months), and radical mastectomy (mean, 78 months). Local recurrence occurred in 25 per cent of all patients, and this rate was not dependent on the operation performed. The data suggest that modified radical mastectomy is adequate therapy for local control and staging of the disease without reducing survival from that observed after radical mastectomy.